Offensive Ads on ATS

Here is a good one...

www.ifcj.org... XEXL1

What I'm tired of is words in a post being put in very dark blue and underlined in order to sell something. I have astigmatisms and that makes it hard to read. Not to mention the pop up from ousing over the word hides a large chunk of the post.

How powerful the advertising dollars are.

If I had a website I wouldn't do such atrocious things to sell stuff. I would have advertisements, but I'd have a link to them on a separate page and I wouldn't blue out words.

But that's just me. Apparently I am alone in this way of thinking.

Originally posted by MountainLaurel
How could it be her "fault" that because she is a middle aged woman, the ads targeting her are for weight loss products and dating sights? The whole concept that ads "profile" middle aged woman as fat and desperate for a man if single is disgusting!

It's her "fault" because the ads appearing to her are based on where she has been. For example, I recently booked a trip to Disneyland. Immediately I had Disneyland ads on ATS. I looked at generators. Immediately I had generator ads on ATS. Yesterday I was trying to find a "sport canopy" (a simple tent-like affair that is quick and easy to put up.) Immediately, I saw canopy ads on ATS. I'm in the market for a 16GB thumb drive. Guess what? Thumb drive ads.

Usually these ads don't stay for long because they are not "persistent," but some are. The OP is complaining about ATS when it is her own browsing behavior that caused the ads to appear. In that sense, they are her "fault." She doesn't admit to visiting sites that are promoting weight loss fat girl dieting products, but the fact is, they didn't get there by accident. ATS is not promoting these scams; she is. She doesn't see ads for Disneyland or generators and I don't see ads for dieting.

This ought to be of concern for all of us because it isn't just ads. It's search results themselves. If you visit conservative sites, then search for "Arab Spring" or "Occupy Movement," you are going to get different results compared to someone who visits liberal sites. The search results are not objective. You are not seeing an objective search result, but one tailored to your perspective. Using exactly the same search terms, you go down one path and I go down another.

reply to post by BaZooKaJ


Yes, these ads are definitely personalized according to the types of websites you normally visit. Everyone complains of offensive or otherwise ads, but I get very few ads, and when I do they are usually political in nature. If I want to see the latest advertisement for a politician, I can simply come to ATS. But all the websites I visit are either legal or political in nature, because I do a lot of my research at home for papers I write.

I do believe that all these ads have to be personalized. Otherwise everyone else would be just as sick of political ads as me! But others get dating sites and weird ads, I have never once seen any of these. But I do know who is running for Sheriff...and city council...and president...and every other office imaginable! Although right now they want all my money invested! Just go to the White House website for the Press Secretary a few times and see how many Obama ads you get!

Once that is what led me to wonder about ATS and who ran it! (JK)